Gold dredge



GOLD DREDGE Filed April 1;, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet INYENTSR ATTORN EY A. J. POSSELT Dec. 1Q, 1929.

GOLD DREDGE Filed April 13, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 V ATTORNEY 1929- A. J. POSSELT GOLD DRED 3E Filed April 13. 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 [NVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 10, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT ormcr.

ALBIR'I :r. POSSELT, or SALIDA, COLORADO GOLD DREDGE Application filed April 13,

This invention relates to certain novel improvements in gold dredges, and has for its principal object the provision of an improved construction of this character which will be highly eificient in use and economical in manufacture.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide a gold dredge which will be arranged such that it may be easily transported in order that it may be set up and used in comparatively inaccessible places.

Another object of the invention is to provide a gold dredge of the foregoing character which will be arranged such that it may be made of the size such that it may be used in gold bearing gravel deposits of comparatively small size.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a gold dredge which may be mounted on pontoons in order that it may be floated in streams having gold bearing gravel deposits.

Another object of the invention, ancillary to the foregoing, is to provide a pontoon structure for dredges of the character described which will be arranged such that the pontoons may be made of the size such that they may be easily transported and to arrange these pontoons such that they may be formed into a structure which may be expeditiously fitted together.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel sluice construction which will be arranged such that gold flour as well as small nuggets may be extracted from the material passed through the sluice construction.

' Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel combination and arrangement of parts to be here- 4o inafter described and claimed.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, showing the preferred form of construction and in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a preferred embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a--plan view of the device illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantial-- 1y on the line 3-3 on Fig. 2

1928. Serial No. 288,747.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line H on Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 5-5 on Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a modified form of construction for the pontoons employed in the device as illustrated in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 7 is a sectional detail view depicting the manner in which the pontoons illustrated in Fig. 6 are joined together.

In the drawings, wherein a preferred embodiment of my invention is illustrated, I show a pontoon construction generically indicated by 10 in the drawings which in the present instance is shown as being comprised of two tanks 11 and 12 and which are disposed so as to be co-extensive and which comprise water-tight tanks that embody a configuration substantially similar to that indicated in the drawings. These tanks are spaced apart so as to provide an opening therebetween and are joined together b bers such as 13 whic may be secured to the tanks 11 and 12 in any approved manner. In Figs. 6 and 7, a modified form of construction is shown for the pontoon arrangement and herein a plurality oftanks 14 are depicted which are joined together in the manner best illustrated in Fig. 7 Suitable angle clips such as 15 are mounted adjacent the' corners of the tanks 14 on the outer sides thereof and are securely held in position by bolt and nut constructions 16.' In order to re-inforce the angle clips 15, angle clips 17 are mounted interiorly of the tanks and the'bolt and nut constructions 16 also extend through openings in these clips. The angle clips, secured to adjacent tanks through the medium of the bolt and nut constructions 16, are joined by plates 18 which are secured to the angle clips 15 through the medium of bolt and nut constructions 19. It is apparent from the foregoing description, that the tanks 14 are rigid- 1y joined together and are arranged such that they may be expeditiously taken apart or assembled as required and thus easy transportation thereof is obtained.

Mounted so as to be disposed between the tanks 11 and 12 and supported by the pontoon construction 10 is a tower construction gesuitable bracing memnerically indicated by 20 in the drawings. On the upper side of the tower construction 20 suitable bearings 21 are formed adjacent the forward edge thereof and a shaft 22 is journalled' in these hearings. A suitable spool construction 23 is mounted on the shaft 15 between the bearings 21 and the opposite ends of this spool 23 are provided with sprockets such as 24. Mountedbetween the sprockets 24 and'the-bearings 21 are downwardly extending arms such as 25 which are adapted to support channels such as 26 for pivotal movement about the shaft 22. 'At. the lower ends of the channels 26 outwardly rotruding arms 27- are mounted which have earings formed in the, outer ends thereof that are adapted to support a shaft 28. A spool con.- struction substantially similar to the s 001 construction 23 is mounted on the shaft 28 between the arms 27 and sprockets such as 29 are provided on the ends of this spool construction. The channels 26 are co-extensive and are spaced apart a pre-determined distance and are adapted to serve as a support for a standard chain bucket conveyor.

This standard chain bucket conveyor comprises two chains 30 and 31 which are adapted to be directed around the sprockets 24 and 29 at the ends of the spool constructions supported by the shafts 22 and 28. It will thus be seen that the chains 30 and 31 will be spaced apart a predetermined distance as best illustrated in Fig. 2. Disposed between the chains 30 and 31 are buckets 32 which are suitably connected thereto, and these buckets are arranged at intervals as best illustrated in Fig. 5. It will thus be seen that a chain bucket conveyor of a standard type is provided which will be generically indicated hereinafter by 33. I

- Mountedbetween the forward end of the pontoon construction 10 and the tower construction 20 and adapted to extend at an acute anglewith respect to the pontoon construction 10 is a boom 34 which is fixedly held in position by an upwardly extending bracket 35 that is carried by the pontoon constructions adjacent the forward ends thereof as best illustrated in Fig. 5. At the upper end of the boom 34 a suitable pulley construction 36 is provided which comprises two spaced apart pulleys. Arms such as 35 are pivotally mounted on the shaft 28 between the arms27 and the sprockets 29 and these arms have pulleys such as 37, provided on the free ends thereof. Suitable, cables such as 38 having oneend thereof connected to the u per end of the boom 34 are provided, and a ight-portion is provided in these cables 38 which is adapted to receive the pulleys 37. The bight-portion in the cable 7 '38 which receives the ulleys 37 is defined by a portion extending between the fixed end thereof and a portion which is directed around the puHeys'36 and thence to a winch construction 39 mounted on the tower 20 in the manner best illustrated in Figs-1 and- 5. Suitable handles 40 are provided on the winch construction 39 as well as a ratchet construction of a proved form by which the cable 28 may be eld in various wound posi tions in the winch 39. It is apparent that by winding the cables 38 on the winch construction 39 that the relative position of the bucket conveyor may be changed and thus the depth at which it will be operated may be varied.

Means are provided for continuously driving the chain bucket conveyor 33 and this means includes the following construction. Suitabl mounted on the pontoon construction 10 1s a power suppl ing means such as an electric motor or the li e which is indicated by 41 in the drawings. Mounted on the tower construction 20 in the rear side thereof are suitable bearings such as '42 which has a shaft 43 journalled therein. -A pulley 44 is fixed on the shaft 43, anda pulley 45 is provided on the shaft of the motor 41. A suitable belt 46 extends between the pulleys 44 and 45 and thus ower is transmitted to the shaft 43. Suita 1e bearing'construction 47 is provided on the u er s ide of the tower construction 20 and t is hearing construction carries the shaft 48. A pulley 49 is fixed 'on the shaft 48 and a pulley 50 is fixed on the shaft 43. A belt 51 extends between the pulleys 49 and 50 and therefore, movement of the shaft 43 is transmitted to the shaft 48. A gear 52 is mounted on the shaft 22 in the manner best illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 and a pinion 53 is mounted on the shaft 48 which meshes with this gear 52. Therefore, when the shaft 48 is caused to rotate movement thereof will be transmitted through the pinion 53 to the gear 52 and thence to the shaft 22, which will cause the chain bucket conveyor to be operated in a manner well understood in the art. It is .to be understood that belt and pulley constructions have been described herein as being used to transmit power, but it is to be understood that any suitable power transmitting construction may be substituted for these without departing from the purview of my invention. As is well understood in the art, the chain bucket conveyor is operated such that the open upper side of the buckets 32 will be disposed to be headed downwardly during one-half the movement and on the other half of the movement the closed bottoms thereof will be disposed downwardly and this arrangement is such thatas the buckets 32 pass over the shaft 22 the open upper side of the buckets will be moved downwardly into opening position. I, therefore, dispose to the rear of the shaft 22 in a position such as to be disposed therebelow a trough member 54 which is adapted to be supported by the tower construction 20 and this relation between the buckets and the trough member 54 is clearly illustrated in Fig. 5.

- which is adapted An upstanding bracket 55 is' provided to be supported by the pontoon construction 10. At the upper end of the bracket 55 is a bearing 56. Extending out from the tower construction 20 and arranged so as to be disposed below the outer end of the trough member 54 and arranged in spaced relation thereto, is a bracket 57 which has a bearing member 58 provided at the outer end' thereof. A substantially cylindricalscreen member 59 is provided which has a bearing member 60 extending outwardly from one end thereof that is adapted to be j ournalled in the bearing 56. The bearing 58 is disposed and arranged so as to receive the oppositeend of the screen member 59 as is best illustratedin Figs. 1 and 5. At the end opposite the end having the bearing member 60, the screen member 59 has a pulley 61 mounted thereon. A shaft 62 is disposed to extend transversely of the tower construction 20 and it is journalled in suitablebearings provided on this tower construction. A pulley 63 is provided on ti: end of the shaft 62 and is disposed subst tially in alignment with the pulley 61. A belt 64 extends between the pulleys 61 and 63. A pulley 65 is provided on the shaft 22 at the end opposite the end thereof having the gear 52. mounted thereon. A pulley 66 is mounted on the shaft 62 and a belt 67 extends between the pulleys 65 and 66 and therefore, when the shaft -22 is operated, movement thereof is transmitted to the shaft 62 which in turn is transmitted to the pulley 61and thence to the screen 59, which is rotated in the bearings 58 and 56.

- The inner end of the trough member 54 terminates interiorly of the screen 59 as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 5. Therefore, material which is dumped from the buckets 32 and collected by the trough member 54 is introduced into plurality of openings of predetermined size formed therein which are indicated by 68 in the drawings. As is clearly illustrated in the drawings, the end of the screen 59 into which the trough member 54 extends is disposed higher than the end having the bearing 60 provided thereon so-as to arrange the screen 59 such that it will be downwardly directed from the trough member-54.

A collecting member 69 is disposed below the revolving screen 59 and is supported at one end by brackets 7 O which extend upwardly from the pontoon construction 10 and which is reinforced by cross brackets 71 that extend between the brackets 55 and 70. This trough member is disposed so as to slant. downwardly from the trough member 59 and.

terminates in a directing trough 72 which slopes downwardly toward the front of the device and which terminates at one end of the sluice box 7 3. The forward end of the sluice box 73 is supported from the boom 34 as clear- 1y illustrated at 74 in the drawings. This above the sluice box embodies a downward slope toward the rear of the machine and terminates at its rear end above the collecting member 75 of the discharge trough 76 to be described more fully hereinafter. An upwardly extending bracket 77 is provided adjacent the rear end of the pontoon construction 10 and supports a trough member 78. One end of the trough member 78 is disposed below the lowermost end of the revolving screen 59 and the other end of thistrough member 78'is disposed collecting member 79 of the discharge trough 80. When the material is introduced into the revolving screen 59 in the manner hereinbefore set forth, material of limited size is caused to pass through the openings 68 due to the revolving movement of the screen 59 and this material is collected by the trough 69 and is passed into the del very trough 72 through which it passes into the sluice box 73 which will be described more fully hereinafter. The material of a .size too large to pass through the openings 68 will be discharged through the end 81 of the revolving screen 59 into the trough 78 from whence it will travel into the collecting member 79 and down through the discharge slot from which it will fall back into the screen from which it was picked up by the buckets 32 and in which the pontoon constructions 10 are floated.

The sluice box 73 into which the material which passes through the 0pening'68 is delivered is arranged in the following manner. The sluice box construction is clearly illustrated in Fig. 3 wherein it will be seen that adjacent the end into which the trough 72 extends a screen member 82 is mounted on the bottom thereof. Disposed between the bo tom 83 and the screen member 82 is a suitable coarse fabric or the like which is indicated by 84 in the drawings and which is preferably made of burlap or the like. It is apparent that an appreciable amount of water will be picked up by the buckets 32 as well as soft substantially muddy material and sand and small gravel, and this is the material which will be passing along the sluice box 73, the larger stones and the like being passed out throu h the delivery opening 81 of the screen 59. s this material introduced into the sluice box 73 passes over the wire mesh screen 82 it will be agitated and the heavier particles therein which will be. the gold will tend to settle toward the bottom and this will collect on the fabric 84. As is clearly illustrated in Fig. 3, the screen 82 extends for only a predetermined distance along the sluicebox 73. Disposed below the sluice box 73 adjacent the delivery end thereof is an auxiliary sluice box 85 which is suspended by brackets 86 from the sluice box 73. The screen member 82 terminates in substantial alignment with the inner end of the auxiliary sluice box'85. Juxtaposed the end of the screen member 82 pass over the plate 88 and the smaller an opening 87 is rovided in the bottom 83 ofthe sluice box 3 and this opening 87 1s closed by a perforated plate 88. T e material which passes from the screen 82 a 1- cles thereof will tend to pass throng the erforations therein and fall into the auxil- 1ary sluice box 85. Disposed between the erforated plate 88 and the end of the sluice Box 73 is a wire mesh screen 89 which has a fabric 90 mounted between the bottom 83 and said screen. The material which fails to pass through the perforations in the plate 88 will pass over this screen 89 which will act substantially similar to the screen 82 and which will cause the extraction of any gold remaining in the material. The material which passes into the auxiliary sluice box 85 will fall therealong and adjacent the delivery end of this auxiliary sluice box 85 and arrange in spaced relation to the bottom thereof is a corrugated plate 91 which tends to agitate the material passing" through said auxiliary sluice box 85 and thus cause the settling in said auxiliary sluice box of any gold which may remain in the material passing therethrough. Both the sluice box 73 and the auxiliary sluice box 85 discharge into thecollecting member 75 which delivers this material to the delivery trough 76 through which it passes back into the stream from which it was picked up.

Extending outwardly from the rear end of the pontoon construction 10 is a suitable bracket 92 which is adapted to support a mast 93. Horizontally disposed boom members 94: and 95 extend outwardly from the mast 93 and are supported therefrom by guy wires or the like 96 and 97. Suspended from the booms 94 and 95 by suitable bracket members 98 are the delivery members 76 and 80,'suitable lugs 99 being provided on the members 76 a d 80 for the rece tion of the bracket mem ers, 98. It is pre erable but not necessary that the delivery members 75 and 79 be associated with and be carried by the mast 93. Suitable guy wire 100 is provided which is connected to the bracket 55 to the mast 93 in order to aidproper mounting of the mast 93.

At predetermined times during the opera tion of the device the chain bucket conve or 33 will be stopped and since the materia is clearly from the sluice box 73 and the auxiliary sluice box 85 the gold collectedon the members 84 and 80 will be removed as well as any gold remaining in the sluice box 85.

It is apparent from the foregoing description, that I have provided a device which is arranged in a unit construction manner. such that it may be easily taken apart to facilitate transportation thereof. The device embodies a, minimum number of working parts and it is readily apparent. that it may be arranged in such a manner that it can be expeditherefore,

tiously set up and operated in comparatively inaccessible places and thus, I am able to carry out go (1 dredging operations in previously inaccessible regions. I

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form of construct1 on for carrym my invention into eflect this 1s capable o variation andmodificationwithout depart ing from the spirit of the invention. 9 do not wish to be limited to the recise details of construction set forth herem, but desire to avail myself of such variations and modifications as come within the sco e of the appended claims.

Idaving thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

l. A device of the class described including a pontoon constructioncomprising a plud rality of water-tight tanks, angle brackets mounted interiorly of said tanks adjacent the corners thereof, angle brackets mounted exteriorly of said tanks adjacent thecorners thereof, means for securing said angle brackets to each other and to sai tanks, and means for connecting the an 1e brackets disposed extraneous sai tanksw ereby to connect said tanks so as to provide said pontoon construc tion. a

2. A pontoon construction comprising a luralit of water-tight tanks disposed in ongitu inally aligned rows with t e tanks of each row transversely aligned with the tanks of the juxtaposed row, substantially L-shaped angle brackets, means for connecting said angle brackets to the corners of said tanks with the outwardly projecting portions of said brackets disposed in spaced relation with said corners, plate members for interconnecting the angle brackets of juxtaposed tanks, and means for connecting said plate members to said angle brackets.

3. Apontoon construction including a plurality ,of substantially rectangular watertight tanks in longitudinally aligned rows with the tanks of juxtaposed rows transversely aligned with each other, angle brackets disposed interiorly of said'tanks at adjacent corners thereof, angle brackets disposed exteriorly of said tank with the outwardly extending portions thereof arranged in spaced relation with the corners of said tanks, bolt means extending through said tanks and said interior and exterior angle brackets for connecting said an le brackets to said tanks, plates extendin etweenthe angle brackets of juxtapose tanks, and

means for attaching said plates to said angle versely aligned with each other, an le brackets disposed interiorly ofsaidgta at adplates to said tanks.

In testimony whereof I aflix m signature.

ALBERT J. P SSELT. 

